Hi all my wonderful TMJoiners, I'm Priya Mistry the TMJ doc.
And today we're going to be talking about your period and TMJ Disorders.
Does your TMJD seem to worsen during that very special time of the month? Does your
jaw clicking or popping worsen or become more frequent? Do you have more episodes of the jaw
locking or catching during that time of the month? Does your pain worsen when you're menstruating?
If so, watch this video until the end to find out why that's happening and maybe more importantly,
what you can do about it. Before getting right into it, be sure to check out my social media as
well as my office website. The links for all of those are listed below. My social media accounts
and my office website have more information about TMJD in general, treatment methods, tips, trivia,
etcetera so there's a wealth of information on all of those so be sure to check those out.
I've noticed that while many of you are watching, not all of you are subscribing so just be sure
to Subscribe because if you do so, the Interwebs will push this important information out even more
and make it available and accessible to people who are actually suffering daily from TMJD.. So
be sure to hit that Subscribe button, that little notification bell next to it - that will notify
you for when my next video will be available to view. For those of you who don't know,
I'm a general dentist with a practice in beautiful Vancouver, Washington.
At my practice, we are dedicated to taking care of patients with TMJ Disorders. This includes
headaches, ear pain, tooth pain, jaw pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, clicking and popping noises
in the joints, crackling noises in the joints, and even episodes of the jaw locking or catching.
So now let’s get right into it. If you’ve seen some of my previous videos, you'll know that
HORMONES - some very specific hormones actually - are a factor when it comes to TMJ Disorders.
These hormones include Beta-Estradiol and Relaxin. The levels of both of these hormones can fluctuate
quite a bit with our monthly cycles. Every single body is unique and different and these levels can
even fluctuate from person to person. Both Beta Estsradiol and Relaxin are linked with
degeneration inside the jaw joints. Don't panic when you hear the word “degeneration”.
This is usually a very slow process that happens over long periods of time. Additionally,
Relaxin - which is very appropriately named - “relaxes” or loosens up ligaments,
including the ligaments inside of our jaw joints. So while this can be a great advantage
to us while having a baby - the loosening of the ligaments because of the hormone Relaxin
allows the pelvic bone to loosen up, allows the passage of the baby through the birth canal - so
while that can be advantage during childbirth, it can actually be a disadvantage to have too
much Relaxin when it comes to our jaw joints. What Relaxin can do over time is loosen up the
ligaments that hold the articular disc inside of our jaw joints in place. This allows the disc
to come out of alignment and displace more easily, which leads to clicking and popping noises and can
progress to the actually jaw locking closed. For more information on all of that if that sounded
like a foreign language to you, please watch my video "Jaw Joint Noises - Snap, Crackle Pop".
It explains exactly what's happening when that disc comes out of alignment. Another video that
explains that really well is "Disc Displacement With Reduction". I've linked both of those videos
above and below so be sure to check them out if you have any questions on what I just said.
Many people have reported that the pain associated with their TMJD
actually worsens during their period - while they're menstruating.
I can’t actually find a good reason for this - I'm actually finding conflicting articles,
conflicting evidence. Some articles say that increased levels of estrogen actually desensitize
nerves, which leads to less pain or less sensation of pain if you will. Other articles will say that
pain receptors are actually more active during menstruation, which leads to more sensation of
pain. So it's a bit conflicting and I was actually ask you guys - just what do you experience? Do
you experience more pain during menstruation? That is what I hear from most of my patients or
do you experience less pain? Or do you notice no difference in your TMJD during that very special
time of month? Comment in the common section below and let me know. I'd love to hear from you guys!
One thing I CAN say that I’ve noticed in general, is that we tend to clench or grind our teeth with
more force, more frequency, and for a longer duration if we are stressed, uncomfortable,
or in pain. During this special time of the month, many of us experience low back pain, cramping,
bloating, or we're just sort of uncomfortable in general. This can all put our bodies in
a more heightened level of stress, which can then lead to increased clenching and bruxing.
That increased clenching and grinding activity can then worsen our TMJD symptoms.
Specifically, this will lead to more pain in the head, neck, and jaw.
Lastly, let’s talk about what can be done about TMJD worsening during that time of the month.
Unfortunately, not much can be done about the hormones that are contributing to the
worsened TMJ. We can’t increase or decrease levels of specific hormones
easily and even if we could, that could have negative impacts on the body.
What we CAN do, however, is treat the symptoms. To increase joint stability and decrease
joint noises, I would recommend the 6x6 exercise. So we can go over this now.
For the 6x6 exercise, you bring your teeth edge to edge and then you open to about 90% of your
maximum and then you come back to that edge to edge position. So I'll demonstrate right now.
You do that 6 times, 6 times per day. That's why it's called "the 6x6". What the 6x6 exercise does
is it helps to line things up in the joint to help decrease the clicking and popping noises.
For more information on the exact anatomy and exactly how that works,
you can watch my video "The 6x6 Exercise".
To decrease pain associated with TMJD, I’d highly recommend releasing some muscles, particularly the
key muscles that contribute to the TMJD pain. I'll be going over how to release the masseter,
the temporalis, and the lateral pterygoid muscles. So let's start with the Masseter.
The masseter is a big chewing muscle - it's actually the strongest muscle in our body. It can
create the most force compared to how small it is. So, it starts underneath the cheekbone and extends
all the way to the angle of the jaw right here and the bottom of the jaw. So to release this muscle,
you can take your middle knuckles - which are these guys right here - you'll place
them underneath your cheekbones, press inward with a decent amount of force. Now before moving
downwards along the muscle, go ahead bite your back teeth together gently. Don't clench hard,
just a little gentle pressure is fine. Once you've done that, press inward and then actually
run down - with that pressure inward - run down the length of that muscle. All the way down,
until the angle and the bottom border of the jaw. You can do that 3-4 times, 3-4 times a day. and
that helps to relieve tension and knots that build up in that muscle. That's one thing you can do.
The second is to release the Temporalis muscle and we'll do this in two ways.
So you can use your fingertips for this one. I find that to be the best.
The temporalis muscle is a large muscle and a key player in clenching and grinding activity.
The masseter is also a key player in that clenching and grinding activity.
Back to the temporalis. So the temporalis starts at the coronoid process,
which is a little bony knob on our jaw bone, which is about right here. If you actually
open and close, you can feel it moving if you go just right underneath your cheekbone and little
forward to your ear - it might be about an inch and half forward. You can typically feel that
moving. So it starts there and it goes outward in a fan shape - big muscle right here. So
what you're going to do is take your fingertips, start at approximately where that muscle begins,
and then with pressure inward - and again, you can bite your back teeth together gently during this -
you can go up and back with pressure inwards. And as you do that, fan your fingers out. If
you fan your fingers out, you'll actually get the whole muscle because again it's a big fan-shaped
muscle. So we're imitating that fan shape as we release that muscle - press inwards and backwards.
Lastly, let's release the lateral pterygoid muscle. The lateral pterygoid muscle is
tiny - it's about the size of the end of my pinky here - but it is fierce and it can cause
a lot of pain and discomfort. Including jaw pain, headaches, specific tooth pain, pain into the ear,
pain behind the eye, etcetera. Many people believe you cannot reach this muscle anatomically at all.
Other people believe you can reach it. I guess I fall into the category of believing that you can
reach the fascia and the tissue around it if you cannot reach it. So if you release
this muscle you actually have to go from inside the mouth. You're going to start by taking your
pinky - so right hand, we'll use that right hand to release the left lateral pterygoid.
You're going to turn your pinky so that the pad of your finger is facing towards your cheek
and the nail is facing towards the inside of the mouth. Then you're going to go ahead and go
in - you're going to go right next to your cheek - and you're going to get your pinky as far
up and back as possible between your cheek and your very last teeth back there and even
up and further back. When you go in, you're going to open wide but once you get about as
far back as you can, I'm going to ask you to close halfway. When you close halfway,
you can typically go even further back and further up. Once you reach the spot, you'll know because
it's typically painful. This is not an easy thing to go through, it's typically a painful release
and once you get to the spot, I'll ask you to hold pressure there for about 10-15 seconds.
Then kind of change the angle of your pinky and do it again. So you can do that one maybe 1-2 times
a day. Take it easier on the lateral pterygoid than you will on the other couple muscles that
we talked about because this muscle is usually kind of angry. So I'll demonstrate that as well.
So I sort of demonstrated a quick version of that. With the masseter and the temporalis, you can do
each of those 3-4 times, 3-4 times a day. With the lateral pterygoid, I would limit it to 1-2 times a
day. Many people have done these releases because they're available on my YouTube channel so you can
look up the videos for each specific muscle that I mentioned.. and they have contacted me from around
the world, saying that these have helped with headaches, range of motion of the jaw, jaw pain,
etcetera. So please try these out if you're in pain. I truly believe that they can help you.
So that’s really it my friends! Again, I’m Dr. Mistry and I hope you found this video helpful.
If so, please feel free to like, Subscribe, and share with your family and friends! For
TMJD relief from the comfort of your own home, please download my free PDF Guide
called “3 Steps to TMJ(D) Relief”. You’ll find that on my office website which is linked below.
As always, questions and comments are welcome in the comment box below. Feel free to let me know
if you learned anything in this video, if you found the information useful or helpful at all.
If you experience more pain during your period or less pain during your period,
I would love to know as well. So again, feel free to comment below. And remember, my friends,
you can never have TMI about TMJ! Thank you!